Middle East

Palestinian rocket fire draws Israeli air strikes in Gaza

Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel, drawing Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has said.
Mother-of-five steers new course as Gaza’s first woman taxi driver

For Naela Abu Jibba, a mother of five who lives and works in the Gaza Strip, taking the road less travelled has become a way of life.
Israel strikes widely in Syria, sending signal of aggressive post-Trump posture

Israel has launched air raids against what it called a wide range of Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria, sending a signal that it will pursue its policy of striking across the border despite US President Donald Trump’s election defeat.
Iran says US move against it would face ‘crushing’ response

Any US attack on Iran would face a “crushing” response, an Iranian government spokesman has said, following reports US President Donald Trump asked for options for a strike on Iran’s main nuclear site but decided against doing so.
Kuwait won’t renew work, residency permits for expats aged 60 years and above

Decision to take effect from January 1, 2020 with maximum 3 months’ deadline for departure
Death toll nears 100

A shipwreck off the Libyan coast has killed 20 people, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, just hours after news of a separate incident in which at least 74 migrants died.
Islamic State claims responsibility for Jeddah attack

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a non-Muslim cemetery in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah which wounded several people, without providing any evidence.
Bahrain PM, world's longest-serving, dies at 84

Bahrain's Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world's longest-serving prime minister who had held the post since independence in 1971, died today at the age of 84, state media announced.
Coronavirus: Cemeteries in Iran overwhelmed by virus deaths

For over half a century, a massive graveyard on the edge of Iran’s capital has provided a final resting place for this country’s war dead, its celebrities and artists, its thinkers and leaders and all those in between.
Loved or hated, Trump stamped his face on the Mideast conflict

Perhaps nowhere outside his own country did President Donald Trump polarise opinion more than in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, where to many he was either hero or villain.
Trump administration advances $10 billion defense sale to UAE: source

The US State Department sent Congress an informal notification of plans to sell $10 billion of defense equipment, including precision-guided munitions, non-precision bombs and missiles to the United Arab Emirates, a US congressional aide has said.
UAE to relax Islamic laws for personal freedoms

The United Arab Emirates has announced a major overhaul of the Islamic personal laws in the country -- allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening restrictions on alcohol, and criminalising “honour killings”.
Saudi Arabia to relax foreign workers’ sponsorship terms in March 2021

Saudi Arabia announces new plans to ease foreign workers’ contractual restrictions, improving a controversial seven-decade-old sponsorship system known as kafala.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince condemns terror attacks, hate speech during call to Macron

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan has expressed his condemnation of recent terrorist attacks in France during a phone call with the country’s President Emanuel Macron, Reuters reports citing UAE state news agency WAM.
Israel says UAE visit 'making history' - Palestinians call it 'shameful'

In an historic first visit by a Gulf Arab nation, a United Arab Emirates delegation arrived in Israel on Tuesday to cement the normalisation deal signed last month.
Israel sends treaty delegation to Bahrain with Trump aides

An Israeli delegation accompanied by the US treasury secretary has arrived in Bahrain to formalise nascent relations and broaden Gulf cooperation that Washington has promoted as an anti-Iran bulwark and potential economic bonanza.
Iran says UN arms embargo on Tehran has been lifted

Iran said a longstanding UN embargo on arms sales to and from the Islamic republic expired Sunday in line with a 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers from which Washington has withdrawn.
Saudi Arabia allows citizens, residents to perform prayers in Al-Haram Mosque - state TV

Saudi Arabia allowed its citizens and residents inside the kingdom to perform prayers in one of the most holy religious sites in Islam, Al-Haram mosque in Mecca, for the first time in seven months, state television reported early today.
UAE travel alert: Bangladeshis will need round-trip ticket to enter Dubai

UAE has asked airlines and travel agents to implement new procedures for visit/tourist visa holders flying into Dubai from five countries including Bangladesh, after hundreds of passengers stranded at Dubai International Airport since October 13 were flown back to their countries, Gulf News said in a report.
Israel halts granting visas to UN human rights employees

Israel has stopped granting visas to UN human rights workers, forcing them to stop their work and leave the country, according to a report by Middle East Eye (MEE).
Caab temporarily lifts Covid-19 restrictions for Biman, Saudia Arabia Airlines on KSA-bound flights

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh has lifted coronavirus-induced restrictions for Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines so that they are able to carry passengers on every seat when operating flights to different destinations in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Chamber of Commerce chief calls for a boycott of ‘everything Turkish’

Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce head Ajlan Al Ajlan has called for a boycott of “everything Turkish”, including imports, investment, and tourism, reports Gulf News.
Lebanon asks Interpol to arrest Russian ship captain, owner over port explosion

Lebanon has asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the Russian captain and owner of the ship that brought the explosive material that detonated at Beirut port in August, killing nearly 200 people, according to state media reports.
Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways to operate flights from Dhaka

Jazeera Airways, a Kuwait-based airlines, has started operating flights from Dhaka.
Israel’s Mossad head meets top Bahrain security officials: BNA agency

The head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad met Bahrain’s heads of national intelligence and strategic security during a visit to Bahrain, Bahrain’s state news agency (BNA) has reported.
Lebanon and Israel agree framework for talks to end border dispute

Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a framework for US-mediated talks aimed at ending a long-running dispute over a border that has been the frontline of several conflicts.
Kuwait’s new emir takes oath

Kuwait’s new emir was sworn in at parliament yesterday as the country prepared to lay to rest late ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who helped steer the US-allied Gulf state through some of the Middle East’s most turbulent decades.
Saudi Arabia to cut spending next year, sees economy bouncing back

Saudi Arabia plans to cut spending by 7.5% in next year’s budget to 990 billion riyals ($263.94 billion) but expects the economy to return to growth as its management of the coronavirus crisis improves.
Collection centre sets example by delivering Covid-19 test report in 9hrs to Saudi expat

Staffers of the sample collection centre at the Dhaka North City Corporation market delivered a Covid-19 test report within just nine hours of sample collection of a Saudi-bound expatriate Bangladeshi worker.
Dhaka urges Riyadh to increase flights to carry more expats

Bangladesh has requested the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to increase flights between the two countries so that the expatriates stranded here can return to their workplaces smoothly.